Periodontitis relates to an inflammatory disease that affects the tissues that surround and support the teeth. Periodontitis may be caused by microorganisms that adhere to and grow on a tooth's surfaces. One way to stop the inflammation is for a patient to receive subgingival antibiotics or other medicants in one or more pockets (i.e., target areas) that are located in the mouth. Similarly, other sites of infection or inflammation present in human dental, medical or animal veterinary applications may require delivery of therapuetic agents to multiple anatomical sites and therefore may also be amenable to multidose delivery.
In conventional delivery devices, antibiotics or other therapeutic agents are delivered a single dose at a time. A conventional delivery device may include a capsule, powder or other dosing form that contains the therapeutic agent or, the conventional delivery device may contain a disposable tip that comprises the agent. When administering more than one dose to a patient, a conventional delivery device must be reloaded between each dose with a new capsule or dosing form or a new tip/agent combination before a next dose is delivered or a next location in the mouth or other anatomical site. Reloading the delivery device each time is not only time consuming, and uncomfortable for the patient, but it may cause treatments to be cost prohibitive for many patients.